2020-Elephant Butte Fire Restoration @ Evergreen

Start Date-End Date: 09/19/2020-09/20/2020 Land Manager Office: City and County of Denver - Parks and Recreation Land Manager Contact: Andy Perri Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Volunteer one or both days to restore areas burned by the Elephant Butte Fire. Description: Read Before You Register! Need-to-Know Details: We greatly appreciate you volunteering your time and energy to care for Colorado's outdoor places during COVID-19. To help provide a fun and safe experience for all, there are a few temporary changes to be prepared for: You may sign up for one or all days of this project,though we encourage multi-day registration to limit the number of interactions and potential exposure. You may only register yourself.Every volunteer must sign our digital COVID-specific forms ahead of time to be able to attend. You must provide your own food and, if desired, overnight accommodations.VOC will not be providing meals or campsites at this time. You must bring a face mask and work gloves.Pleaseclick herefor our full packing list of required and recommended items. Please come prepared to use the bathroom outdoors.VOC is not providing portalets at this time and public restrooms may be unavailable. Pleaseclick herefor more information on how to "go" outside. Cancellation & Waitlists:Due to this year's limited number of projects and volunteer spots, we expect projects to fill quickly with waitlists. If you need to cancel, please emailoutreach@voc.orgas soon as possible so we can free your spot for another volunteer and have a full workforce. If you are waitlisted for multiple projects, please call us at 303-715-1010 ext. 130 and we can help you find an open project, if available. Where You'll Be: The Denver Mountain Park system is one of the most unique in the country. Operated by Denver Parks and Recreation, the park system extends across four counties outside of the city, offering 22 parks, 24 conservation areas, and 14,000 acres of environmental and historical treasures. What You'll Do: Spend a Saturday and/or Sunday helping restore areas burned by the Elephant Butte Fire. This fire burned approximately 50 acres earlier this year, and volunteers will take part in simple, but important, tasks designed to bring parts of this area back to life. After a short hike to the project site, volunteers will help spread native seeds, spread wood straw, and arrange slash and other tree debris on steep areas. Why It Matters: The Elephant Butte Fire burned approximately 50 acres in mid-July 2020, leading to the evacuation of about 1,000 homes and the temporary closures of the popular Alderfer/Three Sisters Park and Elk Meadow open spaces. Volunteers' work will help the burned areas grow back to their former glory. About Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is the state's oldest, largest, and leading outdoor stewardship nonprofit organization. Founded in 1984 to motivate and enable people to become active stewards of Colorado's natural resources, VOC has engaged nearly 125,000 people in more than 1,000 volunteer projects for a donated labor value of $25 million. Through award-winning youth and volunteer programs, leadership training, capacity-building programs, and collaborative efforts with nonprofits and land management agencies, VOC is an invaluable resource in Colorado, especially as our outdoor stewardship needs are approaching near-crisis levels. For more information, visit www.voc.org or call 303-715-1010. Latitude/Longitude: 39.642665, -105.368174 Additional Information: We greatly appreciate you volunteering your time and energy to care for Colorado's outdoor places during COVID-19. To help provide a fun and safe experience for all, there are a few temporary changes to be prepared for: You must provide your own food and, if desired, overnight accommodations.VOC will not be providing meals or campsites at this time. You must bring a face mask and work gloves.Pleaseclick herefor our full packing list of required and recommended items. Please come prepared to use the bathroom outdoors.VOC is not providing portalets at this time and public restrooms may be unavailable. Pleaseclick herefor more information on how to "go" outside. Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 10 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 24 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 24 Total Unique Volunteers: 20 Total Volunteer Hours: 155 Staff Hours: 8 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Summary Thisproject started with views before the volunteers even reached the worksite, with a herd of elk close to the road en route on both days. Denver Mountain Park staff were extremely helpful in parking volunteers upon arrival, who then had a short hike to the check-in area. (Note: The property owner near the check-in/staging area was interested in what we were doing and very kind/welcoming.) Volunteers then hiked up a steep, roughly half-mile private road to reach the fire affected areas of ElephantButte. Denver Mountain Parks staff gave a background on the fire that started earlier this year (2020) and explained the importance of the seeding effort. On Saturday the group was dividedinto two crews who spread out over the landscape to work towards each other. The crews then started seeding in the crosshatch pattern demonstrated by the Park Naturalist. The terrain was steep, littered with fallen trees and loose rock. Volunteers were very good at communicating when any debris started to fall or roll down the hill. The Saturday crews managed to effectively and efficiently spread the five bags of seed across 10 acres of land by early afternoon. On Sunday there was a mix of old and new faces; however, there were no Crew Leaders present. The Parks staff had all of the volunteers line out across the remaining 10 acres to continue seeding. The combination of less-steep terrain and fewer seeds made for an even quicker day. To extend the work, we decided to have the volunteers re-aerate the work area from Sunday. With the project ending earlier than anticipated (before lunch), I made sure to personally thank each volunteer for their time and explain that without them this work would not have gotten done- as the Parks couldn't hire seasonals this year. No one seemed too upset about the project ending early either day and all were glad that we were able to seed the entire 20 acres the Parks had bought seed for. Successes and Challenges: Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: